


Altea Café

by JustanInnocentWriter



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith and Shiro are Siblings, Lance keeps using fake names at the café, Lesbian Pidge | Katie Holt, Multi, POV Keith (Voltron), Pidge and Keith are best friends, Swearing, but also.... maybe kind of straight, klance, klance fluff, that's why it's rated teen, this is gay, this is mostly innocent I swear, wingman pidge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-04-18 03:11:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14203758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustanInnocentWriter/pseuds/JustanInnocentWriter
Summary: “Iced coffee with espresso.”“One shot again? Like a baby?”The guy’s cheeks reddened slightly and he ran his hand through his brown hair. “Shut up. Yes.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> get ready for the weirdest and cutest fic ive ever written :)
> 
> (also don't worry: the other characters/ships come in later on!)

     Pidge ran over to Keith and shoved him, forcing him to spill the milk he was pouring into a double-double. Keith was not surprised, as this happened frequently. Pidge seemed to always have something urgent to say that disrupted his work. He didn’t want to confront her about it, though. Pidge was scary.

 

     “Keith, look who just walked in!”, she exclaimed and not-so-subtly pointed over at a guy who was standing in line. Keith craned his neck to see over the crowd.

 

     “Yeah… It’s a customer. And?”, he replied and scrubbed the milk off the counter, though it was already nearly permanently stained with various substances.

 

     “He’s fucking  beautiful ! Don’t you ‘yeah, and?’ me!”, she yelled. The tips of Keith’s ears reddened. Why was Pidge always so loud? People were surely staring. 

 

     “Okay, and would you like his number?”, Keith deadpanned.

 

     Pidge stared at him. “I’m gay. So are you.” He had to admit that she had a point.

 

     Keith sighed, he didn’t have time to argue with her, no matter how fun it happened to be. They had to work! “Don’t you have a drink to be serving?” Pidge grumbled and ran off to the other side of the counter where she was actually working.

 

     However, Keith couldn’t help but agree that the guy technically  _ was _ “fucking beautiful”. When the guy ended up at the front of the line, it seemed as if he were still deciding what he wanted to order. Keith  _ hated _ customers like that. If you were there for coffee, why wouldn’t you know what you wanted to order already? It was especially annoying since the guy had been in line for about five minutes beforehand.

 

     “I’ll have a… uh… iced coffee with a shot of espresso.”, he said with a grin. Only one shot of espresso? Pathetic. Keith usually had four. 

 

     “Name?”, Keith asked.

 

     “Powerpuff.”

 

     Keith stared at him, unimpressed. “Are you sure about that?”

 

     “Yes. Completely.” The guy looked serious.

 

     “What the fuck..?”, he muttered. “Fine. That’ll be $5.26.”’

 

     He handed over the money and took the change that Keith gave him. “Thanks, beautiful!”, Mr. “Powerpuff” exclaimed as he walked over to the pick-up counter.

 

     Keith mumbled random words under his breath, trying to form a semi-normal reaction as his face grew red. He prepared the drink slightly slower than he would have normally and dreaded giving it to Mr. “Powerpuff” for every second that went by. 

 

     He walked up to the pick-up counter and set the drink down, on which he had hesitantly written “Powerpuff”. “Here you go,” Keith mumbled.

 

     “Thank youuu!”, the guy replied in a sing-song voice. He grabbed the drink with a  beautiful broad smile and walked off.

 

     In the back of his mind, Keith couldn’t help but hope that the guy would come back sometime, and perhaps tell him his actual name, even though he would never admit that to himself.

  
  
  


* * *

 

 

     “Wanna study for geo tonight?”, Keith asked Pidge as they wiped down the tables and the last stragglers made their way out of the tiny café.

 

     “Yeah, I hate that class.” Pidge leaned on a table as she spoke.

 

     Keith moved on to cleaning the next table. He knew that Pidge probably was not going to help much, and he wanted to get out of there. “Because of Mrs. Haggar?”

 

     Pidge groaned loudly. “ _ Yes _ . Does  _ anyone _ like her!?”

 

     Most of Mrs. Haggar’s students (including Keith, even if he was acing the class) tended to hate her because of the way she taught. She never seemed to care about whether the students did well or not, but she  _ did _ care about whether they listened to her screaming when they did not understand her lessons.

 

     “No. Are you going to help me out here?”

 

     She sighed. “Fine, Mr. Grumpy.”

 

     “I’m not… grumpy.”, Keith muttered. He wrang out a rag and nearly slipped in a puddle of water that Pidge has left on the floor, which made her giggle.

 

     “Yeah, yeah, it’s just your personality.”

 

     “Why am I friends with you!?” Keith whipped Pidge with a wet rag and she screamed. He was glad that the last of the customers had left and they were the only ones working at the time. He did not want anyone looking at him weirdly.

 

     “Who knows?”, Pidge shrugged.

 

     Keith finished cleaning (with little help from Pidge, unsurprisingly) and they locked up for the night. Luckily, the only night that he had to close the Altea Café was Saturday, so he was never working extremely late shifts on school nights. 

 

     The pair sat at the bus stop right outside the café, since neither of them had a car. They were technically of age to drive, but they didn’t feel the need to.

 

     “When is the bus gonna come!?”, Pidge complained.

 

     Keith glanced at his phone. “Ten minutes.”

 

     “Damn. But it’ll probably be late because public buses suck.”, Pidge muttered and scrolled through Instagram on her phone, which had a green case with a cat on it. “Anyway, how did it go with that guy today?”

 

     “What guy?”, Keith asked. He talked to tons of guys every day at school and at work. She would have to be more specific.

 

     “The…” Pidge paused to find the right words. “‘fucking beautiful’ guy.” She grinned at Keith.

 

     “He was a customer. I served him an iced coffee.” Keith didn’t see what the big deal was. Yeah, he was a cute guy. He saw tons of cute guys.

 

     “Hmm… Only a customer?”, Pidge asked and prodded him in the ribs, causing Keith to flinch.

 

     “Yeah.”

 

     “I hope we see him again. I can’t wait to see your reaction. I’ll make sure you serve him.” Pidge grinned.

 

     Keith sighed and rubbed his eyes. “You’re evil.”

 

     “That, I am.”, she smiled innocently.

 

 

* * *

 

  
  
  
  


     Keith didn’t fall asleep until just past two in the morning. Now, this was partially due to Pidge not leaving when she said she would, but also due to him staying up an extra hour by accident, just staring up at his ceiling and thinking.

 

     He awoke to the sound of a whistling kettle, which his father was brewing tea in. At five thirty in the morning. Keith groggily pulled himself out of bed and grabbed his phone from his desk.

  
  


 

**_KEITH I NEED MY PHONE IT’S AT YOUR HOUSE I’M COMING OVER AT NOON_ **

  
  


 

     Keith wasn’t surprised. This was about the twentieth time that Pidge had left her phone at his place.

  
  


 

_      okay, see you then _

  
  


 

     He got ready for his day which would mostly consist of finishing a summative that was due the next week (even if he had been given two months to do it). It was normal for him to leave things off until the last minute, especially when it came to bio class.

 

     “Hey, Keith. Want me to make you breakfast?”, his dad asked as he plucked some toast from the toaster and sipped at his tea.

 

     “Yeah, that would be great, thanks.” He was used to early mornings. Not that Keith was a morning person, just that his dad was and constantly made noise before six o’clock. In fact, Keith definitely was  _ not _ a morning person. Pidge could testify for it.

 

     Keith sat down at the table in the kitchen and rubbed at his eyes, trying to feel more awake. Maybe he should ask his dad to make him some tea, too. He opened up his phone and started

 

     “Oh, yeah. Pidge is coming to get her phone at noon.”

 

     “Sounds good! I love that kid. She’s so witty!”, Keith’s dad replied with a smile.

 

     Keith rolled his eyes and smirked. “That, she is.” Keith’s dad had always loved Pidge, even since the day he’d met her. In a way, Pidge reminded Keith of his dad. Only in the way of sarcasm, though, since his dad was much nicer than Pidge.

  
  
  


 

**_can you ask your dad if I can eat lunch with you guys? My mom won’t feed me anything other than grilled cheese because I refuse to learn how to cook._ **

  
  


 

     Keith chuckled softly at his phone. 

  
  


_      lmao fine _

  
  


 

     “Dad, Pidge wants to know if she can stay for lunch.” Keith said.

 

     His dad cracked an egg on a pan. “Yeah, sounds good. Tell her I’ll make some pasta without meat for her. And extra cheese.”

 

     “‘Kay, cool, thanks.”

  
  


 

_      yeah it’s fine, he’s making pasta. no meat & extra cheese for you! _

  
  


**_YESSSSSSSS THANK YOU_ **

  
  
  


* * *

 

 

     “I’m here, open the door!”, Pidge yelled as she knocked on Keith’s front door.

 

     “Shut up, I’m coming!”, he yelled back. He heard his father laugh from the kitchen.

 

     He opened the door and Pidge greeted him with a smile. “Hey, guys. Do you know where my phone is?”, she asked, hopefully. Keith had moved it from the ground onto his dresser because he knew that he would have lost it otherwise.

 

     “Yeah, it’s in my room.” Keith gestured for her to follow him and he ran up the stairs, skipping every second one. It took Pidge a little longer than him to climb the stairs.

 

     “Jeez, man, you  _ know _ I’m short!”, Pidge grumbled, trying to catch her breath.

 

     “Yep,” Keith grinned. “That’s why I did it.” Pidge shoved him lightly and grabbed her phone from his dresser.

 

     They went back downstairs and sat at the table to eat. 

 

     “Is Shiro here today?”, Pidge asked, midway through shoving a forkful of pasta into her mouth.

 

     “Nope.”, Keith replied and went back to eating. He was not one for mealtime discussion.

 

     “Shiro’s coming back from uni next weekend. In fact, we’re going to go to the table tennis club with him if you’d like to come and join us!” his dad said. Keith's older brother, Shiro, was an extremely talented table tennis player, but he never had time to practice, so whenever he came home, that's what they did.

 

     Pidge grinned maliciously. “And wreck Keith? Of course, Mr. Kogane!”, she exclaimed. 

 

 

* * *

  
  
  


**_are you working tonight?_ **

 

_      yeah _

 

**_see you there, then! Hope that latino boy comes back ;) I saw him Monday night  when I was working with Shay btw_ **

 

_      wait, what? _

 

**_yeah, he asked me if the black haired guy was here; I assume he meant you. And he gave me the name “welcome to Chili’s”_ **

 

_      what the fuck that’s not even a name _

 

**_see you toniiiight~_ **

 

_      I HATE YOU _

 

**_That’s a lie!!!!! :)_ **

  
  
  
  


     Keith made his way directly to Altea Café after school on Wednesday. He only had a four hour shift, thankfully, since he also had to finish his biology summative. 

 

     “Heeyyyy!”, Pidge cried over the small line of customers as he entered through the front doors.

 

     “Hi, Pidge. I have to get my uniform from the back.”

 

     “Hurry up then!”

 

     Keith returned two minutes later (he counted), and there were suddenly double the amount of people in line.

 

     “Why are there so many people here now!?”, Keith asked as he grabbed two butter tarts from their showcase area.

 

     “Do you never work right after school? It’s all the students getting coffee because school is hell!”

 

     “I usually work super late shifts.” He normally had to tutor people straight after school, so he was never able to work earlier than 6:00p.m. The 9th grader who he had been tutoring on Wednesdays and Thursdays had recently stopped needing help with work, so Keith was able to work earlier those nights. 

 

     Two hours into his shift, Keith saw the mysterious guy from the other day walk in. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to serve the guy, but the odds did not seem to be in his favour. Somehow Mr. Powerpuff ended up right in front of him.

 

     He glanced over at Pidge with a pained expression and she simply grinned back at him and gave him a thumbs-up. Keith wasn’t even  _ into _ the guy.

 

     “You’re back,” Keith said to the customer and raised one eyebrow.

 

     “Of course,” the guy looked down at Keith’s name tag, “Keith, I need caffeine to function,” he said with a shrug.

 

     Keith nodded. “That’s fair. What do you want today?”

 

     “Iced coffee with espresso.”

 

     “One shot again? Like a baby?”

 

     The guy’s cheeks reddened slightly and he ran his hand through his brown hair. “Shut up. Yes.”

 

     Keith chuckled. “Sounds good. Name?”

 

     “Lightning McQueen.”, the customer replied with a huge grin. Keith rolled his eyes.

 

     “Sure. $5.26.”

 

     He handed over the money and Keith gave him change. “Aw, don’t be grumpy,” he followed Keith over to where he was making his drink and leaned on the counter. “You look prettier when you smile.”

 

     Keith frowned. “I’m making your drink. Shut up.”

 

     It was obvious that the guy, Mr. Lightning McQueen, was an extrovert. So Keith didn’t even know if he was flirting or if he was just talking to anyone that would listen. It wasn’t like Keith was into him, anyway, even if he was pretty.

 

     “Here.” Keith passed the customer’s drink across the counter.

 

     “Thaaanks! So, Keith, when are you working again?” He leaned on the counter and rested his chin in his hand.

 

     “Why should I tell you?”

 

     The guy pouted. And it was pretty cute, Keith couldn’t lie.

 

     “Fine.”, Keith said with a sigh. The guy smiled. “I’m working tomorrow after school.”

 

     “Cool. See ya!”

 

     “Okay.”

 

     The guy waved and walked off, leaving Keith to finish off his shift and Pidge to pester him afterward.

  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


     “I swear, Keith. He likes you!” Pidge exclaimed as she and Keith ate their lunches on the ground outside the music room where Keith had just had his last class. 

 

     “Whatever. I don’t even know him.” The recurring customer at Altea Café wouldn’t even tell Keith his real name, which made it harder to get to know him, anyway.

 

     “Well, he keeps coming back for you. I think he likes you. Why else would he come back for you? It’s not like you’re all that cheery or that you have the best personality,” Pidge said.

 

     “My personality is just fine, thank you very much,” Keith replied with a frown. “Can we not talk about him?”

 

     “What else is there to talk about, though?! This is the biggest thing to happen to you in months! Years! Maybe your entire life!”

 

     Keith shoved Pidge. “Shut up.”

 

     “But seriously. Ask him for his number or something,” Pidge suggested. Both she and Keith knew that he would never do that.

 

     “He might be straight.”

 

     “I’ll bet you twenty dollars that he isn’t. Have you  _ seen _ him?”

 

     Keith rolled his eyes. “Fine, whatever. I’m not going to explicitly  _ ask _ him that though. I feel like that’s rude.”

 

     “You’re just scared,” Pidge pointed out.

 

     “No, I’m not!” Keith frowned.

 

     “Are too.” Pidge took a bite of her croissant. “End of argument.”

 

     Keith grumbled and went back to eating his sandwich. “Anyway, he’s coming back today.”

 

     Pidge perked up. “Really!?”

 

     “Yeah..?”

 

     “I’m glad I’m working tonight, then! If you two sneak off to the back room, I’ll cover for you. Just don’t be too loud.” Pidge replied with a wink and got nudged aggressively by Keith in response.

  
  
  


* * *

 

 

**_the bus is coming! Hurry!_ **

 

 

     Keith booked it through the back field, nearly dropping his phone in the process. Luckily, there were a few people who were waiting for the bus, so that gave him enough time to catch the bus (just barely). 

 

     He took a seat next to Pidge. “Hey.”

 

     “Why does it take you so long to get to the bus? You’ve missed the early one, like, four times in the past week,” Pidge asked. “And I know you’re fast, you do track and field for God’s sake!”

 

     “I dunno. My locker is further from the back door than yours, I guess.”

 

     Pidge shrugged. “Maybe. Or you’re just slow.”

 

     They sat on the bus for about twelve stops, then got off in front of Altea Café. The two of them then went inside, put on their uniforms and got ready for work. Keith dreaded every minute and hoped that Mr. Powerpuff would not show up. Maybe he was sick. Maybe he got into a car accident. Maybe he had extra homework. Maybe he just didn’t want to come back. Maybe… Nope. There he was, strutting right through the front door. He waved at Keith, who subtly gestured back with a slight smile. Maybe he was happy that the guy came back.  _ Maybe _ .

 

     “Hiya, Keith!” the guy said. “I’m back, just as I said. You are blessed with my beautiful presence.”

 

     “Wow. I’m so honoured,” Keith replied. “Same as yesterday?”

 

     “Mhm.”

 

     “Different name?”

 

     “Mhm. Kermit.”

 

     Keith sighed. “Yeah, yeah. $5.26.” He wanted to ask the guy for his name, but he was too afraid to come off as invasive (although the customer had definitely already done so).

 

     “What time does your shift end?” the guy asked and raised one eyebrow. That was sudden, and made Keith slightly uncomfortable.

 

     “Why…?”

 

     “Just wondering.” He put on an innocent smile.

 

     “10:00. I’m closing today.” The café normally closed pretty early, but only because it wasn’t highly staffed and wasn’t extremely popular.

 

     Keith did not understand why this guy that  _ he didn’t even know _ was so intent on getting to know him. He was not anything special.

 

     “I have a shitload of homework. I’ll do it here.”

 

     Keith sighed and handed him his drink. “Okay. Yeah. Here.”

 

     “See ya, Keith!” he waved at Keith and he waved back.

 

     There was really no reason for this guy to keep returning if he would never give Keith his name. Their coffee wasn’t even that good!

 

     The rest of Keith’s shift was boring. The only slightly interesting part was when his classmate, Jason, walked in and bought a coffee with seven shots of espresso. Four, that’s already a lot. But seven? Keith wondered if he was even human.

 

     As he wiped down the tables with Pidge, Keith noticed the guy, who actually was doing homework on his laptop. He seemed very concentrated, like he didn’t even notice that the place was closing.

 

     “Hey, man. We’re closing soon,” Keith said and tapped him on the shoulder.

 

     The guy jumped a little in his seat, suddenly alert. “Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry.”

 

     “It’s fine. Just make sure you’re out of here before we lock the doors,” Keith replied and scrubbed at the table next to the customer.

 

     “Heeeyyy, how are you guys?” Pidge leaned on the table that Keith was trying to clean. He shoved her off.

 

     “I’m trying to do my job, Pidge. Do yours.”

 

     “Ooooh, burn!” The guy found the need to give supportive commentary. It was cute.

 

     Keith rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

 

     “He’s so grumpy!” the guy said to Pidge.

 

     “Trust me, I know,” she replied. Okay, maybe Keith was a  _ little _ grumpy, no matter how often he denied it. “What are you working on?” She pointed to his laptop.

 

     “Lab report. I forgot to do it. Turns out… it’s due tomorrow in my first period class,” Mr. Powerpuff sighed, dropped his arms down to his lap and looked up to the ceiling. “I fucked up. Big time.”

 

     Keith shrugged. “I’ve done lab reports the morning before.”

 

     “Same,” agreed Pidge.

 

     The guy laughed. “Thanks for the support.”

 

     “No problem, Mr. Powerpuff,” Pidge replied with a grin.

 

     “Shit,” the guy kept laughing. “Gotta get back to wooork,” he said in a sing-song voice.

 

     Both Pidge and Keith frowned. “Alright, Mr. Secretive. It’s not like I’m a murderer or a stalker. Him,” she pointed to Keith, “on the other hand… I dunno.”

 

     “Hey!” Keith exclaimed.

 

     “Not surprised,” the guy said and looked back down at his laptop.

 

     They finished wiping down the tables and Pidge turned off the lights. “Let’s go, man. We’re closing.” Pidge said.

 

     “Alright, alright. I’m only leaving because I’m scared of you, though.” He pointed at Pidge.

 

     The three of them walked out and Keith locked the doors and turned the security system on. Not that they really had anything to worry about in terms of robberies. Who would steal pastries and coffee cups?

 

     “Taking the bus?” the guy asked.

 

     “Yeah,” Keith replied. “The 44.”

 

     “Cool. I’m just gonna walk home.”

 

     Keith frowned. “But it’s cold.” It was -8℃, which was pretty cold for December, considering it was normally about 0℃ at that time of year. “And you don’t even have a coat on.”

 

     The guy put his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Hey, I’ll be fine. I’ll see you guys… Again? At some point?”

 

     “Bye, Powerpuff!” Pidge said with a grin.

 

     “See ya,” Keith said. Mr. Powerpuff gave that broad grin and wave (that he’d done many times before, it was like his signature move) and walked off.

 

     Keith sighed.  _ What am I getting myself into? _   Pidge just smiled widely at him. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, Keith,” McClain smirked, “Do you like Star Wars? ‘Cause Yoda one for me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry in advance for this taking such a dark turn? the fic wont really be like this, i promise!

     Exam time had made Keith the most exhausted that he had been in years (okay, maybe not  _ years _ , that could have been a bit of an overstatement, but that is definitely what it felt like to him). Working at Altea Café and glancing down at flash cards between every order may not have been the ideal way to get things done. Sure, Keith could have refused the shifts that were offered to him, but part of him felt the need to work. It made him feel like he was doing something useful.

 

     At this point, Keith was getting  _ maybe _ four hours of sleep per night. It had gone on for the past two weeks, and four hours was a maximum. This was due to late studying after shifts. Sometimes Keith wondered why he took so many shifts at the café, especially since he was doing tutoring every other day. It just became a habit to be there so often. If he was not doing anything, that was when intrusive thoughts came in and he just sat there, thinking. It was painful sometimes.

 

     He’d seen that yet-to-be-named customer studying at the café many times, but he did not always come up to Keith to order anything. Those were the days that Keith was the most distracted. Keith could have sworn that the guy had been staring at him a few times, but it could have just been a coincidence.

 

     The shift that he had taken the night before his biology exam was probably the most stressful. He took orders and made drinks with a sense of numbness from repetition taking over his mind as he pictured plant and animal cell diagrams and tables comparing mitosis and meiosis in his mind, barely paying attention to what he was doing and just hoping that he was doing it right.

 

     Keith’s fragile mind dipped in and out of consciousness as if it were delicately bobbing in the waves of the sea.

 

_      Mitosis…   _ _ cell division…  two daughter cells… same number and kind of chromosomes as the parent nucl _ ー

 

     “Hiya, Keith. You okay?” a soft, but peppy sounding voice asked him.

 

     Keith’s eyes shot open and he stood up straight. Urgent questions and demands shot through his head.  _ Where are you? Who is talking to you? Are you alive? Is anything wrong? Where’s your family? Are they okay? Do you…  _

 

     “Uh… Sorry, what?” That was all his brain was able to muster up. He recognized someone in front of him. Keith put one hand down on the counter and tried to clear his mind. 

 

     “Keith? I asked if you were okay. Plus I need coffee or I'll die," he said, completely serious. "Chop, chop.” He grinned. It was the customer who had insisted on giving Keith those stupid names to write on his cup. Of course, he was back. 

 

     “Oh… Yeah, I’m fine. What would you like?”, Keith replied, still barely conscious. He glanced over at the clock. One hour until his shift was over. It was only 7:30..? He could have sworn that it was later.

 

     “Same as always, dude.”

 

     “Which is…? Sorry.” No matter how hard Keith strained his mind, he could not seem to remember the simplest of things. Not even the order that he had made for the same person at least twenty times and that he thought about at least once every day. The guy looked a bit disappointed that Keith seemed to have forgotten about him. He felt like such an idiot. A weak, annoying idiot.

 

     The guy looked concerned. He cocked his head to the side and said: “Iced coffee with one shot of espresso. You don’t have to keep apologizing, it’s fine… Are you sure you’re okay?” The guy’s voice was shaking a bit as if he were doing improv and was completely unsure what he should say next. He seemed very nervous. 

 

     Keith blinked fiercely to wake himself up. “Yeah, sorry. $5.62.” Was he reading the number right? At least there was no one else in line. He didn’t want to screw up anyone else’s night.

 

     “Keith, that says $5.26. Are you sick? You look sick.”

 

     Keith frowned. “ _ I’m fine. _ Let me work.” 

 

     The guy sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hands. “You’re not though! Hold on.” The guy walked off and Keith rested his head on the counter, trying to get rid of the blur around the edges of his vision. What was going on? He was usually able to keep up during the exam period at school. He was never this exhausted. He felt the need to get his act together since this definitely was not too much to handle. Keith thought that he was just being pathetically weak.

 

     He heard some murmuring and stood up again. He noticed that the customer had left the money for his drink on the counter. Keith put it in the cash register and started making the drink.

 

     “Hey, man. Shay’s here,” the customer reached over the counter and put his hand on Keith’s shoulder, who shrugged it off automatically.

 

     “Stop.” Keith was getting visibly frustrated.

 

     “Good to know that you’re not a touchy person, even when you look like you’re  _ dying _ ,” the customer said. It’s not that Keith hated physical contact in general, but when it was a surprise, it made him uncomfortable. 

 

     “Good to know that you’re  _ always  _ a touchy person, even when I might be  _ dying _ . But I’m not,” Keith grumbled. A wave of dizziness came over him. He closed his eyes with great force and leaned against the counter again to steady himself.

 

     “Keith, I think you should go home,” Shay said. She was always so kind, even when Keith was a total jerk to her. Not that he tried to be. He just was not as ‘outgoing’ as others.

 

     “I’m fine.” He felt fine. Never better. He had to finish this shift. It was almost over. He couldn't be weak. He had to prove to them that he wasn't weak.

 

     “I won’t tell anyone. There are only two other customers here, and there’s an hour left till closing. I can do it alone,” Shay said, tenderly.

 

     “Come on, man. I’m driving you,” the customer held out his hand and pulled Keith through the door. They walked to the car, but Keith could tell that the guy was going extra slowly, as not to disturb him. “I’m so sorry. I hope you’re okay.”

 

     “Wh… Why are you sorry?” Keith, even in his half-awake state, could not process why this guy would be sorry for something that he didn’t even do. 

 

     No response. Keith was nudged into the passenger seat of a bright red car. The seat had been reclined backward. 

 

     “Do you… know where you’re going?” Keith asked as he leaned back in the seat. It was comfortable, but anything felt comfortable at that point. 

 

     “Yeah, don’t worry. For now, sleep. Or your hair will get worse.” He started the car.

 

     Keith frowned and glanced over at the driver as they pulled out of the parking lot. “What’s so bad about my hair?”

 

     “It’s a mullet. It’s  _ bad _ .” Keith nearly laughed at the disgusted expression forming on the guy’s face. “Anyway, you seem to live kinda far away, so I’d say that you should sleep on the way there.” Keith wondered how he knew where to drive, but at this point, he wasn’t up for asking very many more questions. He just wanted to sit there.

 

     “Nah. I’m fine.”

 

     The guy raised one eyebrow. “Yeah? How many hours did you sleep last night?”

 

     Keith racked his brain for the answer. “I don’t know. Four?” That was close enough to what he should have been getting, right?

 

     “And the night before?”

 

     “Uh… Maybe three?” Now that he thought about it, maybe it was getting to an unhealthy extent. Maybe. Probably not.

 

     “See, man, that’s not enough. I know it’s exam season, and I’ve done the same thing before. But you need to fucking sleep. You probably won’t listen to me ‘cause I haven’t even told you my name, but that’s not the point. Please, Keith, take care of yourself, and don’t be so stubborn.” the guy seemed genuinely upset.

 

     “Uh… huh, Okay… Will do.”  _ I’m not stubborn. _ he thought.

 

     Next thing he knew, Keith was passed out. The guy looked over at him multiple times while he drove to check that Keith was still okay.

 

     “Damn. Even sleeping with bad hair, he’s cute.” He leaned over and felt Keith’s forehead. Keith wriggled slightly, which made the driver smile. Then he sighed. “You’re really warm. Not surprised.”

 

     “This idiot really needs to take care of himself,” the guy whispered and turned onto the next street, believing that Keith was completely asleep.

 

_      Keith’s dreams were weird. They were little pieces of a big story. Static. He saw a hooded man grab the back of his shirt and pull him into a classroom. He was late for his exam. People looked at him and frowned. Static. Static. Static. The scene suddenly changed. A tidal wave swept over him and plunged him into the dark water. His vision blurred. He struggled with every fibre of his being to swim upward, but all forces were pinning him _ ー

 

     Ten minutes later, they’d pulled up in front of Keith’s place. Keith felt a nudge on his right side and a gust of cool wind. He slowly opened his eyes.

 

     “Hey,” he was gently pulled out of the car and leaned on the person pulling him. “It’s okay, let’s go.”

 

     Keith groaned and walked slowly with him to his front door. He wanted to stay in that car with the cute latino guy and sleep. 

 

     “Thank you,” he managed to choke out. Keith was almost completely leaning on Mr. Powerpuff. He nearly fell asleep again before the guy rang the doorbell.

 

     The door opened slowly. “Whoa, is he okay?” his dad answered. He seemed very panicked. “I’ll bring him to the couch. You stay here. You’re going to explain…  _ this _ … to me.” The guy looked nervous. Keith wanted to tell him not to be scared, but he was too exhausted to move a muscle.

 

     Keith laid down on the couch. He could barely hear what his father and… friend (?) were saying. His eyes gave out and he fell asleep again.

 

     “Hey, kid, sorry if I scared you before,” Keith’s dad smiled sheepishly and ran his hand through his black hair, cropped short. At least it wasn’t a mullet.

 

     The guy laughed. “It’s fine. I guess you wanna know what’s up with Keith?”

 

     “Yeah. But first, what’s your name? I assume you’re Keith’s friend.”, his dad asked innocently.

 

     He looked away quickly and nodded slightly. “Lance.” Keith’s dad smiled politely. “Keith was… Pretty exhausted. I thought he was going to die or something. When I walked up to order coffee at Altea, it was like he was barely on Earth anymore. I just felt bad. Shay got me to drive him home.”

 

     Keith’s father sighed loudly and shook his head. “He’s gotten like this before during exam period. It’s not usually this bad, though. Thanks, Lance. I appreciate you getting him home safely. I don’t even know if he would have been able to bus home alone after that shift.”

 

     “No problem.”   
  


     “See you again? Maybe?”

 

     Lance smiled and flushed slightly pink. “Hopefully.”

  
  
  
  


* * *

 

 

 

     Keith woke up slowly the next morning, like every muscle needed to wake up on its own. He did his best to fit together the pieces of what had happened last night. From what he could remember, he was at work, and Mr. Powerpuff drove him home. He had a brief memory of leaning on the guy’s shoulder. 

 

     He fished through his pockets, hoping his phone was there so that he could check the time. Jeez, he was still in his work uniform. He eventually found his phone between the cushions of the sofa.

  
  


**8:49 a.m.**

 

     He jolted upright and suddenly got dizzy. How long had he been asleep? He was going to be late for his exam! It started in eleven minutes! Keith jumped off the sofa and rushed to the kitchen, his head still spinning.

 

     His dad was already there, cooking. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing rushing around like that?” There was a clear sense of concern in his voice.

 

     Keith’s brain was like scrambled eggs. He’d just woken up and could not piece anything together. “Exam. Soon. I have to… go.” 

 

_      I m going to fail that exam. Why the fuck did I go to sleep!? _   _I should have been studying,_ Keith thought.

 

     “Yeah, no,” his dad said strictly with a frown. “That’s not happening. I called the office and we’re going to the doctor. You had a fever last night and considering the state you were in when your friend drove you home, there’s no way you’re going to be up for an exam today,” his handed Keith a glass of milk. Keith walked forward and hugged his dad. This was what he wanted to do, go to the doctor’s office since he knew he was sick, but he would definitely not have done it alone. “Hey, bud, it’s okay. You’re just overtired, so your immune system was down. We should go to the doctor’s office soon.”

 

     “Okay. Love you, dad.”

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


 

     Keith fell right back asleep after he got home from the doctor’s office right before lunchtime on Monday. He hadn’t even realized that Shiro had arrived Sunday evening. He luckily did not have an exam on Tuesday, which meant he had the day off. After his biology exam, he only had one more to finish, which would be geography. Keith was also taking calculus and music that semester, but music had an exam outside of the exam schedule and he had finished the calculus exam on Friday. 

 

     When he awoke around two p.m. on Monday, Shiro was sitting in the chair next to the sofa, reading the newspaper. Keith looked at him and chuckled quietly, drawing Shiro’s attention.

 

     “What?”, Shiro said, frowning.

 

     “You look like such a dad.” With the newspaper, the cup of coffee and his new glasses, Shiro had definitely started looking like a proper dad. Keith was kind of hoping that he would have/adopt kids at some point in the near future.

 

     “I’m going to take that as a compliment, thank you very much.” Shiro set down the newspaper that he had been reading and grinned. “Anyway, how are you doing? By the time I got downstairs last night, you had already passed out on the couch.”

 

     “I dunno. I guess I’m okay, even if I do technically still have a fever.”

 

     Shiro sighed. “Stop being so tough. I saw that guy who took you home last night. You weren’t so tough then, were you?”

 

     Keith smiled and his cheeks started flushing pink. “Shush.”

 

     “ _ You _ shush!”, Shiro retorted and threw a book from the coffee table at his legs.

 

     Keith gasped theatrically. “I’ve been  _ wounded _ !”

 

     They both laughed.

 

     “I missed you, Keith. Maybe I need to stay here so you don’t go crazy and get sick on me again,” Shiro said.

 

     Keith smirked. “It’s okay. It won’t happen again until the  _ end _ of next semester!”

 

     Shiro shook his head. “Can you promise me that you’ll try to take care of yourself? And call me?”

 

     “Fiiine.” Keith could recognize that he didn’t always take the most amazing care of himself, but to him, school came first. Before anything. Whether it be friends, food or sleep. Well, maybe not work. School and work were tied in his book.

 

     Keith grabbed his phone from the coffee table to check for any texts. Sure enough, there were a few from Pidge.

  
  
  


**_hey man… just checking in to make sure you’re okay._ **

 

**_you’re probably sleeping at this point, but I wanted to tell you that even if you’re stupidly stubborn, you reaaaally need to accept that you have to sleep more._ **

  
  


 

     Keith smiled. No matter how much Pidge complained about him, he knew that she liked him anyway. She couldn’t deny it.

  
  
  


_      hey, pidge. i’m doing fine now, don’t worry. i promise you, i will try. _

 

**_good, I can’t have the ticket to my main source of food dying. I dunno what I would do without stealing parts of your lunch and coming to your place for food all the time._ **

 

_      you would die, too. _

 

**_probably!_ **

 

_      if I get more sleep, you need to learn how to cook pasta. _

 

**_yeahh, I don’t think so._ **

  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  


 

     Keith went back to work the next day, but only for a four-hour shift during the afternoon. He was well-rested and ready for his rescheduled biology exam  _ and  _ his geography exam, thanks to Shiro studying with him. 

 

     During exam season, the Altea Café was more highly staffed because there are typically more students studying there at that time. So, Keith was running the cash with Pidge, and Shay was making the orders. 

 

     “Shay! Vanilla latté, please!” Pidge passed an order slip to her.

 

     The next person that Keith took the order of was the guy who had driven him home on Sunday night, Mr. Powerpuff, also known as the unnamed customer. He remembered hearing the guy tell his dad what his name was, but Keith couldn’t remember exactly what it was. It was frustrating him because if he hadn’t fallen asleep, he could have known. Keith kept blaming himself.

 

     “Hey, Keith! You doin’ better?” he asked. Keith went ahead and put his normal order in. “Hold up.  _ Two _ shots of espresso this time.”

 

     Keith laughed. “Alrighty then. You’re becoming a man.” The guy grinned at him. “Anyway, yeah, I’m doing better.”

  
     “You sure _look_ better,” he replied with a wink, then his eyes quickly widened in surprise. “Not that you normally look bad! I meant that you usually look good and, uh, anー”

 

     “I get it,” Keith replied quietly. He glanced down at the guy’s neck and he was adjusting his scarf over his caramel coloured skin which was slowly turning pink. The same probably went for Keith.

 

     “Oh, uh. Okay.”

 

     “...Name?” Keith had, once again, a faint glimmer of hope that the guy would tell him his actual name. Only then would he be able to build some sort of connection with him. 

 

     “McClain.”

 

     Keith perked up and held direct eye contact with his customer. “Is that… a normal name? Your last name?”

 

     The guy grinned and unzipped his coat. “Maybe.” Keith was satisfied. At least he knew the guy’s _last_ name. Better than nothing. _McClain…_ It was a nice name. He liked how it sounded. _Keith McClain…?_ _Wait, no._

 

     Shay calmly made McClain’s (that was what Keith was going to call him until he figured out the guy’s first name) iced coffee with  _ two _ espresso shots this time. Keith was proud. McClain was finally becoming an adult. Maybe someday he’d be on Keith’s level. Or on Jason’s, but seven shots of espresso was  _ probably  _ unhealthy. 

 

     The next customer got his order filled, and the next one after that as well. McClain stayed, leaning on the counter next to Keith until there was no line left.

 

     “So, Keith,” McClain smirked, “Do you like Star Wars?”

 

     Keith frowned. “Where is this coming from?” Of course, he liked Star Wars, but anything from McClain was suspicious. Especially a question like this, out of the blue.

 

     “‘Cause  _ Yoda _ one for me!” He pointed finger guns at Keith.

 

     “Holy… Shit.” Was he really using stupid pick-up lines? Keith must have thought it was somewhat cute since his entire face flushed bright pink in a matter of seconds.

 

     “Is it that bad?”

 

     “I mean…” Keith said with a shrug. He didn’t think it was  _ bad _ , just stupid. It couldn’t be a bad pick-up line anyway since it had definitely made him blush. 

 

     “I thought it was fucking great!” Pidge called from her cash as she sorted through some change. “Keep ‘em coming!” McClain smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Keith was not at all surprised that she had been listening to him. She always was one to eavesdrop, especially when it came to pestering Keith. 

 

     “Please, don’t,” Keith was practically begging at this point.

 

     McClain grinned maliciously. “Hey, Keith?”

 

     “No.” He couldn’t deal with more blushing and stupidly cute lines in one day. Even one of those fucking pick-up lines was enough to make his heart feel like it was exploding.

 

     “Yes!” Pidge exclaimed and stared Keith directly in the eye as if challenging him to some sort of battle. She was tiny. He would win. Easily.

 

     McClain cleared his throat. “Are you Australian? ‘Cauー”

 

     “I’m from Korea. I grew up in Canada,” Keith deadpanned.

 

     He sighed dramatically and shook his head as if he were disappointed in Keith. “ _ Shut up, let me finish! _ ” Keith smirked and raised his hands in defeat. “‘Cause you meet all of my koala-fications!” Pidge burst out laughing and dropped the entire hot chocolate that she had been making. The customer that it belonged to (the only one in line) sighed.

 

     Keith groaned and ran his hand through his hair. “I hate you. So, so much.”

  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  


 

     Keith’s biology teacher was not upset with him for having to reschedule his exam, as he thought she would be. He was so relieved. The exam went by somewhat well, he believed; he knew that he had passed with about 70%. Keith typically took all of the time given to write an exam, even if he was certain about most of his answers. He was paranoid that something would be wrong, so he checked over it, and double checked over it, and triple checked over it, andー Well, you get the gist.

 

     At the bus stop in front of the school, he saw Shay waiting. “Hi, Shay.” She was wearing a pale yellow windbreaker over a white t-shirt. Not the most appropriate apparel for the winter, but Keith wasn’t about to judge since he only had a hoodie on over his t-shirt. 

 

     Shay smiled. “Hello, Keith. Are you working a shift after this?” she asked. He had not taken any shifts between his biology exam and his last exam, geography.

 

     “Nope. Are you?”

 

     “I will not be working again until exams are over,” Shay replied. At least  _ she _ seemed to have her life together. Keith thought that maybe he could learn from her. “I would suggest that you do the same.”

 

     “Thanks, Shay. That’s what I was planning on doing,” Keith replied. He was thinking about heading over to the café just so that he could study. It was typically calm and a comfortable environment for him to study in.

 

     “Good. I think that customer would be pretty worried about you otherwise,” she said and stood up from the bench since the bus was just down the road. Keith smiled.  _ Yeah, he probably would be. _   
  


  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “But, hey, be careful with that drink. It’s hot!” He smirked. “Ah… Wait, you don’t need to worry, it’s not as hot as you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's a lil shorter than the other chapters but i hope you enjoy it nonetheless!!! :)

 

     Keith and Pidge were sitting in the stairwell on the west wing of the school, eating their lunches and Pidge was scrolling on her phone. 

 

     “So, has anything… happened between you and Mr. McClain?” Pidge asked Keith, raising her eyebrows and smirking.

 

     Keith’s eyes widened and he nearly choked as he set down his granola bar on his lap. “What the  _ fuck _ , Pidge?”, he exclaimed, halfway through a mouthful of granola.

 

     She raised her hands in defense. “Hey, man, it was just an innocent question!” Keith hadn’t even seen McClain since the guy was using stupid pickup lines since he hadn’t taken any shifts since then. That day, the first day of the second semester, he was to begin working again. “If you don’t answer, it means something  _ happened _ .”

 

     “Jesus, Pidge, I haven’t even  _ seen _ him! I’m not even… that into him, anyway.” He knew that was a lie as soon as it came out of his mouth.  _ “Not even that into him.” _ But he tried to relive every single one of their interactions when he was trying to fall asleep. Totally. Not into him  _ at all _ . But maybe that was just something everyone did.

 

     Pidge looked suspicious as she squinted her eyes at Keith. “Are you  _ sure _ ?”

 

     “ _ Yes _ .” Keith could tell that Pidge did not believe that at all. 

 

     “Fine. You’re a bad liar, but fine,” she shrugged, “I should at least tell you that I’ve got his number and I’ve been texting him.”

 

     Keith gave Pidge a dirty look, but also felt somewhat hurt. “Again, what the  _ fuck _ , Pidge?”

 

     “What? He’s my friend! We bonded over our love of  _ space _ and  _ chemistry _ !” Pidge grinned. Keith looked down at his shoe and fiddled with the laces. He couldn’t help but feel a little bit jealous of Pidge.  _ He _ wanted to be friends with McClain.

 

     “Do you even know his  _ name _ ?”

 

     “I mean… Yeah,” Pidge said and took a huge bite of her tuna sandwich. Keith was not sure if she was serious or not. He hoped that she was lying. 

 

     “Are you serious?” 

 

     Pidge sighed. “Yes. But he told me not to tell you.”

 

     Keith tried to convince himself that she was lying, but deep down he knew that Pidge was telling the truth. Sure, she liked to mess with him, but her tone of voice told it all. She wasn’t that good of an actor, anyway. But why wouldn’t he tell Keith his name? What did Keith do to deserve that? Maybe he was a jerk sometimes, but nothing bad enough to piss McClain off that much.

 

     “Dude, he’s just messing with you. He’ll tell you eventually,” Pidge tried to comfort Keith.

 

     “I guess.”

 

     Or maybe McClain had just decided that he didn’t want to develop any sort of connection with Keith. He wasn’t surprised. Keith had the lowest self-esteem out of anyone he knew. He was never good enough for himself, so he just kept pushing and pushing until he was as close as possible to perfection. Even then, Keith was not happy. So maybe McClain just didn’t want to get to know Keith any more than he already did.

 

     “I would tell you, but like… It’s kind of disrespectful since he told me not to.” Pidge frowned and looked away. “I’m sorry.”

 

     “I’m glad you told me.” Keith would rather know that Pidge had to keep something secret from him in order to respect someone than be completely in the dark. At the same time, he just really wanted to believe that this was all a huge lie.

 

     Pidge nodded and sighed. “But, hey, you’ll probably see him tonight. He keeps asking me if you’re working and if I know your schedule. And I don’t have it memorized, so you should just tell him.”

 

     This just confused Keith  _ more _ . Why would McClain care if he was working if he wouldn’t even tell Keith his name, but he would tell it to his best friend? Either way, the feeling of being cared about took over and he blushed.

 

     “Don’t hate him just ‘cause he’s not telling you his name, though. He likes you, I swear. He’s just being stupid,” Pidge said.

 

     Keith blushed even more. “I’m not surprised that he’s being stupid, to be honest… I see him enough to know  _ that _ .”

 

     “You guys are too cute, I swear to God. You’re so obsessed with him,” Pidge said and grinned.

 

* * *

  
  
  


 

     That evening, after school, Keith bought a coffee with a bunch of shots of espresso before he started his shift so that he wouldn’t be tired. It wasn’t as bad as when McClain drove him home, but he never slept much  _ anyway _ , so coffee was often necessary. Throughout his shift, he kept glancing up at the door with a glimmer of hope in his eyes every time that the door opened. Finally, on what Keith thought must have been the millionth customer, the person he was waiting for walked in.

 

     “Hey, McClain.”

 

     He chuckled and pulled his wallet out of his coat pocket. “Hey, Keith. Haven’t seen your grumpy face in a while.”

 

     “I am  _ not _ grumpy!” Keith frowned, but McClain just grinned back at him. Before he could punch in McClain’s usual order, he shook his head. 

 

     “I’m getting a… uh…” McClain squinted up at the sign. “Caffè Misto?”

 

     “Oh, okay. $4.45.” Keith had to admit that maybe he was a little grumpy. But only because McClain refused to tell him his name. So it wasn’t his fault. Well, to be fair, Keith had never  _ asked _ , but that was because he knew that McClain wouldn’t tell him. 

 

     “Anyway, you sure  _ look _ grumpy.”

 

     Keith sighed. “Whatever.” He wasn’t up to argue. “What stupid name are you using today?” He put his hands down flat and leaned on the counter impatiently.

 

     McClain looked confused. “Whー I, uh.” He furrowed his brows and looked down at the floor. Keith almost felt bad and wanted to apologize, but he realized that it wasn’t only  _ him _ being a jerk. “Just put L.”

 

     Keith raised his eyebrows. “L from Death Note?” For once, the name McClain chose didn’t seem to be so stupid. Keith loved Death Note. He had since he was twelve. Maybe McClain  _ was _ kind of cool, after all.

 

     “Oh… Well, yeah!” McClain handed the payment for his coffee over to Keith as he began making it. 

 

     Keith’s eyes lit up, which made McClain smile. “You like Death Note?”

 

     “Hell yes.”

 

     “Nice. Maybe we can talk about it later if you’re still here studying or whatever.” He wanted to ask McClain for his first name but didn’t want to screw anything up. Keith decided that he wouldn’t do it.

 

     “Sounds good. Thanks, beautiful,” McClain said with a wink. “But, hey, be careful with that drink. It’s hot!” He smirked. “Ah… Wait, you don’t need to worry, it’s not as hot as you.” 

 

     Keith’s face burned red and he shoved the drink in McClain’s direction. He  _ really _ didn’t want this to happen. He didn’t want to love this guy. He couldn’t. He didn’t feel like he was good enough or deserved it. McClain raised his eyebrows and sipped his drink as he walked off to a table near the windows.

 

     Keith’s phone suddenly pinged. Technically, Keith wasn’t supposed to check his phone during shifts. Oh, well.

 

     It was from Pidge:

  
  


 

**_that boy fucking loves you, just ask him for his name and number already!???!!_ **

 

_      STOP PIDGE _

 

**_NO_ **

 

_      PIDGE I SWEAR _

 

**_I’M GOING TO TELL HIM IF YOU DON’T_ **

 

**_YOU KNOW I CAN’T KEEP SECRETS_ **

 

_      I DON’T EVEN LIKE HIM AND HE PROBABLY LIKES GIRLS AND IS JUST JOKING WITH ME _

 

**_WOW KEITH_ **

 

**_you’re so oblivious and grumpy, it’s actually HILARIOUS_ **

  
  
  


 

     Keith blushed, quickly switched off his phone and shoved it in his pocket as he saw a customer walk through the door. He didn’t know why Pidge couldn’t just  _ talk  _ to him, anyway. She was working 20 feet away from him!

 

     He made three more orders, then no one entered for about five minutes. Keith went out to wash the tables. The only other people there were McClain and two girls sitting next to each other. They seemed to be studying individually. 

 

     “Wanna help me?” Keith asked. McClain looked up from his computer, but immediately reddened and looked down when he realized that Keith was talking to Pidge.

 

     “Fine, whatever,” Pidge said, then sighed. “But you have to wash Lannnnー uhh… Lame… o’s table over here.” McClain’s eyes widened, seeming extremely shocked and he gestured maniacally to Pidge as she shrugged like she didn’t know what to do. Keith frowned at both of them.

 

     “Uh… Yeah… Okay.” Keith had no clue why Pidge would call McClain “lame-o”. He wondered if it was a nickname they had since they were actually  _ friends _ , unlike him and McClain . 

 

     Keith walked over to McClain’s table and started washing the side that he was not using.

 

     “Heeey, Keith, buddy,” he said, then laughed nervously. Keith didn’t get what he had to be nervous about. It’s not like McClain was bad at small talk, or was disliked by many. He was pretty good-looking too… Keith fought back a faint blush forming on his cheeks.

 

     “Hi. What are you working on?” 

 

     “I’m writing,” he said with a grin that showed his bright teeth. The writing seemed to be something that he was proud of.

 

     Keith cocked his head to the side and gestured for McClain to lift his laptop so he could clean underneath it. He did so, and Keith asked: “What are you writing?”

 

     “A story. Maybe a book. I dunno, we’ll see how far it goes,” McClain said with a shrug. Keith had  _ not _ pegged McClain for the author type. This made him want to learn even more about McClain.

 

     “Oh. That’s… pretty cool.”

 

     “Thanks! I’ll let you… get back to work, I guess,” McClain smiled and went back to typing. Keith couldn’t help but wonder what he was writing about, but there was no way that he was going to disturb him now.

 

     Keith wiped down a few more tables until he saw more customers coming, which was when he and Pidge went back behind the counters to serve them.

 

     McClain got up from his seat twenty minutes later and stood in line. When he got to Keith, he said: “I need food. Can I get a mini apple pie and another Caffé Misto, please?”

 

“Yeah, sure. Have you… eaten today?” Keith asked as he punched in the order. “$6.35.”

 

     McClain ran his hand through his hair sheepishly. “Uh… I ate an energy bar this morning?” Keith stared at him. It wasn’t like Keith always ate the most, either, but he knew that McClain usually brought food with him to Altea Café, which meant that he  _ did _ typically eat. “I didn’t have  _ time _ , okay?” 

 

     “Maybe it should be me worrying about you being stupid, not the other way around,” Keith said and exchanged McClain’s money for his pastry. He started making his second drink.

 

     “Hey, man,” McClain said, “I’m not that bad. It’s just ‘cause I was busy in the science lab at school.” He shrugged. 

 

     Keith frowned. “Okay. Make sure you eat supper though.”

 

     “Says you, I’ve literally never seen you eat!”

     

     Keith passed McClain his drink, which had “L” written on it, just like the last drink. “I… eat. Don’t worry”

 

     “Well, okay. See ya, Keith.” McClain smiled and went back to his seat. Keith watched him all the way there.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  


 

     Keith was not going to lie, he did find it slightly weird how McClain stayed at the café so long nearly every day. He was almost always the last one there, staying right up until Keith locked the doors. He couldn’t complain, though, since he did enjoy the guy’s company. Sometimes too much of Pidge was overwhelming, and sometimes, like that day, she left early, leaving Keith to close the café alone. Having a friend there was nice.

 

     “We’re closing soon,” he told McClain.

 

     “Gotcha.” He started putting away his laptop and everything else that McClain had spread out on the table. “So, what’s new, Keith?”

 

     “Uh… I’ve got an evaluation for music coming up. Like, next week.”

 

     “Yeah? What do you play?”

 

     “Clarinet.” Keith had played the clarinet since he was in grade 6. No matter how often he got compared to Squidward, he kept practicing. And now, he was actually quite good at it.

 

     McClain grinned. “That’s cool.” He stopped talking as if waiting for Keith to say something or continue that thought. When Keith did not continue, McClain said “How’s… school going?”

 

     Keith leaned over some chairs to scrub at a table where someone had spilled what looked like  _ half  _ of their drink. “It’s okay. You?”

 

     “I found out that all my marks for last semester were above 85%, which is cool.”

 

     Keith’s eyes widened. “Really?”

 

     “Yeah!”

 

     “That’s so good!” Keith was genuinely impressed. This guy wrote his own books and still got A’s in everything? Well, he was always studying or doing homework at the café, so that could have been part of it.

 

     “Ah, thank you!” McClain grinned. “I’m gonna head out soon and get my beauty rest.” McClain pretended to flip his hair which was… not long enough to flip. “Are you working tomorrow night?”

 

     “No, I’m tutoring.” He tutored on nearly every Monday.

 

     McClain pouted. “Aw… Okay. Do you work Tuesday night?”

 

     “Yes.”

 

     “I’ll see you then,” McClain said with a smile.

 

     “I’ll look forward to that,” Keith replied as McClain walked out and waved at him.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


 

     Monday went by excruciatingly slowly for Keith. It was like every task that he attempted took three times as long as it usually would. Even when it came to tutoring, his mind kept drifting as he glanced over at the clock. Not that he hated the student, Sarah was very nice. Just that he wanted to sleep.

 

     When he awoke on Tuesday, Keith felt energized. He had a nice, lengthy sleep (due to none of his teachers assigning homework. It was a miracle that only happened about once per semester.) and he actually ate a decent breakfast that his father had prepared for him.

 

     He walked into every class excited and frequently raising his hand to participate. Keith was looking forward to working that evening with Pidge, and when it finally came time for the last bell to ring, he pulled out his phone to text her so that they could meet up and take the bus together.

  
  


 

_      are you busing to work?? _

 

**_yeah! I’m already at the bus stop. Hurry, dude._ **

  
  


 

     Keith grabbed his bag and books from his locker and booked it to the bus stop. Pidge was waiting there for him. He still had yet to understand how she got down to the bus stop so quickly.

 

     “Hey, Keith,” she said and Keith sat down next to her on a bench, setting his backpack on the sidewalk. “Excited to see McClain today, I’m guessing?”

 

     “What? How… did you know that?”

 

     Pidge raised one eyebrow and stared at him. “You’ve had this huge nerdy smile on your face all day. You still do.”

 

     Keith forced the smile away from his face. “Maybe I’m a  _ little _ bit excited to him.”

 

     Pidge rolled her eyes. “I can  _ tell _ .”

 

     They began their shifts and McClain strolled in about ten minutes later as if he knew exactly when Keith and Pidge were to start working. This time, Keith was not about to get outwitted. He had prepared a pick-up line, too.

 

     Once McClain got up to the front of the line and told Keith his order, he started to say his pick-up line, but Keith was ahead of the game. 

 

     “Do you have a name, or can I call you mine?” Keith asked and stared McClain directly in the eyes. Pidge burst out laughing on the other side of the café and McClain’s eyes widened as his mouth opened to say something, but nothing was coming out.

 

     “I, uh. Shit.” Keith noticed McClain’s cheeks flushing. “That was… actually really, really good, Keith. I’m kind of surprised.” 

 

     Keith grinned. “Thanks.” He just wanted McClain to answer so that he would know the guy’s name, but making him blush was better than nothing.

 

     “Man, can I just say  _ my _ pick-up line? I had it prepared and  _ everything _ . Yours was better, though,” McClain pouted as Keith made his drink.

 

     Keith shrugged. “Go for it.”

 

     “Hey, Keith, I’ve been thinking about you a  _ latte _ ,” McClain pointed finger guns at Keith. Pidge started laughing again. It looked like she was about to cry! Keith wished that she would stop listening to their conversations since they were  _quite_ embarrassing. 

 

     Keith furrowed his eyebrows and he stopped pouring sugar into McClain’s drink. “Have… you actually?” 

 

     “Well… Yeah?”

 

     “Oh,” was all Keith could force out. “Uh… Same? I guess.”

 

     McClain smiled. “Cool.” Keith passed the finished drink to McClain. Instead of a name (which he had forgotten to ask for), he had written:

 

 

**209-234-8839     text me sometime.**

  
  


 

     McClain looked down at the cup and smiled even more. “Will do. Definitely.”

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> me: hello, welcome to mcclain diner may i take your order
> 
> you: what’s on the menu?
> 
> me: just me-n-u
> 
> *cue laughter*
> 
> _what the actual fuck_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp, this one is a little shorter than normal... it just felt good to end it there. sorry! longer chapter coming next, i promise!

 

**_PING_ **

 

**_PING_ **

 

**_PING_ **

 

**_PING_ **

 

**_PING_ **

 

**_PING_ **

  
  


 

“What the hell..?” Keith murmured. He rubbed his eyes and grabbed his phone, waiting for his vision to adjust. The only people who usually texted him were Pidge and Shiro, but they only did it during the day. There was no way that either of them would be up at 5:30 in the morning for no reason.

 

 

**** me: hello, welcome to mcclain diner may i take your order

 

**** you: what’s on the menu?

 

**** me: just me-n-u

 

**** *cue laughter*

 

thank you thank you

 

i know, im amazing

  
  


 

 

     Keith shook his head and rubbed his temples. He was definitely not surprised that the first text that McClain had ever sent him was a pick-up line, but nonetheless, he was slightly disappointed. It happened to be one of the worse pick-up lines that McClain had performed. Even if he said that he hated it, Keith could still feel heat rising to his cheeks.

  
  
  


 

_      what the actual fuck _

 

 i thought that was pretty good! yet i am left UNAPPRECIATED!!!!!!!

 

_      well that sure was a great start to our conversation _

 

this is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!!!

 

keith, you’re so mean to me :((

 

_      whatever _

 

working tonight?

 

_      i should just give you my entire schedule _

 

 i agree!!

  
  


 

     Keith pushed himself up from his bed. He rummaged around his desk for a few seconds before finding a paper copy of his schedule and taking a picture of it on his phone. He usually typed out a paper schedule just in case he needed it.

  
  
  


_      [image sent] _

 

oh thanks! i was joking lmao but now i don’t have to ask you literally every day

 

well, i will see you tonight then!

 

_      ok! _

 

please allow me to close off with this:

 

if you were a transformer, you’d be optimus fine.

 

_      GOODBYE _

 

     love youuuu 

 

♥♥♥

  
  
  


     Now, Keith was awake much earlier than he would normally be, and he was already bright pink from blushing. Great. It was nearing six in the morning, and he had nothing to do, but there was no point in going back to sleep. So, he lay awake and stared at the ceiling. Keith thought that maybe he could start texting McClain again, just to pass the time, but he didn’t want to seem too pushy, so he decided against it. 

 

     He eventually got out of bed and started getting ready for school, and took a nice, long shower since he had the time. His father made him breakfast, which he was extremely thankful for. Keith took an earlier bus than usual and went to the school library. He hadn’t been there for a while. As he walked in, the librarian greeted him with a broad smile. Keith recognized a few people studying from his classes, but he decided to go sit in a corner so that he could focus. He didn’t want to disturb any of them, anyway. They all seemed deep in thought.

 

     Pidge somehow found him, even though Keith had not told her where he was. Keith was not about to question it, though. They sat almost silently, Pidge reading a book and Keith typing out some notes on his laptop. 

     

     Once classes had started for the day, Keith had a nearly permanent smile on his face. He hadn’t felt this good in a while. Multiple teachers and students asked if he was okay, but he just responded with a “yeah” and another smile. Keith actually struck up a few nice conversations with a few students, including Hunk Garrett (whom he had known since kindergarten, yet had not really talked to since grade four).

 

     “Hey, man! I haven’t seen you in a while!” Hunk called out to Keith from across the hallway. He made his way over and sat with Pidge and Keith to eat lunch. Pidge waved, but then looked back down at her phone. She was immersed in a seemingly intense game of Fortnite. Keith didn’t get the big deal around Fortnite. He liked Pokémon (and he was great at competitive battling!)… But that was about it.

 

     “Hi, Hunk. How are you?” Keith said and smiled.

 

     “I’m great! And you?”

 

     “Today’s a better day than normal.”

 

     “I’m glad!” Hunk exclaimed and took out a sandwich from his backpack. Keith was excited. The only person that he had sat with for the past few years was Pidge, and he hoped to rekindle a friendship with Hunk.

 

     They talked about school, work, and really, everything. When Pidge finished her game, she ranted about her computer sciences teacher and how she was “a stupid fucking idiot with no idea what she’s doing”. Hunk found this hilarious and nearly cried from laughing too hard. 

 

     It was decided (by Pidge) that Hunk would be applying to work at Altea Café. He had mentioned that he was looking for a job, and Pidge not-so-subtly suggested the café. He would be dropping by that night to submit a resume! Both Pidge and Keith were excited to have that teddy-bear of a guy working with them. They knew that he would get hired since he had experience with baking and was a genuinely kind person to nearly everyone.

  
  


 

* * *

 

 

 

**_hey, blushy boy_ **

 

 

 

     Keith got a message from Pidge in the middle of anthropology. He glared at her across the room, but she had stealthily snuck her phone away beforehand. Luckily, Keith’s phone had been on silent.

  
  


 

_      im not blushing??? _

 

**_well you do it often enough_ **

 

**_stop frowning, mr. dickvid is gonna notice it lmao_ **

  
  
  


 

     “Mr. Dickvid” is what Pidge had decided to call Mr. David. She hated him and he hated her right back. He seemed to have a preference for Keith over the rest of the class. God knows _why_.

  
  
  


 

_      no, he loves me _

 

**_as much as mcclain does?_ **

 

_      fuck you. _

 

**_you love meeee ♥_ **

  
  


 

     Keith switched off his phone and shoved it in his bag. He glanced around the room to see Pidge smiling innocently back at him.

  
  
  
  
  


* * *

 

 

 

     Keith went to work after tutoring a grade 9 kid in mathematics. He walked in the front door, greeted by a nearly empty café. It wasn’t very surprising, though. Altea Café wasn’t very big, nor very popular.

 

     “Hey, Keith!” McClain shouted from his seat.

 

     Keith shook his head. “Hi. There’s really no need to yell. There’s like, no one here.”

 

     McClain shrugged and looked back at a book he was reading as Keith went to the back to clock in and start his shift. It was a short one that day.

 

     An hour later (and two croissants and an iced coffee later for McClain, or “Jesus”, as he requested on his cup), Keith saw Hunk Garrett approaching the door. He looked nervous. Keith didn’t think that he had anything to be nervous about. When he opened the door, Hunk waved at Keith, then looked around and his eyes set on McClain. 

 

     “Heeyyy!” Hunk exclaimed and McClain’s eyes widened in fear. Keith was confused as to why he could be scared of Hunk. The guy was literally too sweet for his own good. “I didn’t think I’d see you here, Lance!” McClain’s gaze rushed to Keith. He looked terrified. Pidge burst out laughing from behind the counter.

 

_      Lance _ . Keith smirked. He had not been expecting to find out McClain’s name that day, but that was a bonus to an already pleasant day. It was… a nice name. And fitting. Keith had heard somewhere that the name could mean “God-like”.

 

     Lance sighed  _ very _ loudly and buried his face in his hands. “Huuuunk,” he groaned. Hunk frowned. He had no clue what was going on. Keith didn’t get why Lance was so upset, but at least he knew the context.

 

     “Uhh… You alright, buddy?” Hunk asked. “I’m just here to drop off a resume…”

 

     “I can take it and give it to the manager for you,” Keith offered. The manager had a soft spot for Keith, and he knew that Pidge wasn’t going to want to give it to her. Hunk nodded and passed the resume to Keith with a smile. Lance still had his head in his hands.

 

     “Hunk, you suck,” Lance said and downed the rest of his coffee.

 

     “I…?” Hunk looked extremely concerned.

 

     “Lance used a bunch of fucking stupid fake names to order coffee and he wouldn’t tell Keith his name because he was afraid that Keith didn’t want to be his friend!” Pidge exclaimed over the counter as she made a double-double. Keith was glad that she had explained it since he hadn’t wanted to. The few customers that were present seemed to be enjoying the show that they were putting on.

 

     Hunk started laughing and Pidge joined him. “Oh… Oh, my God… Lance, you’re ridiculous. Sorry, man!” Hunk said. “Wait, is Keith that guy that you told me about?” Hunk wiggled his eyebrows.

 

     Lance grimaced. “Uh… I don’t know what you’re talking about…?” Hunk squinted his eyes at Lance and shook his head, making a “tsk-tsk” noise.

 

     “You actually thought I didn’t want to be your friend?” Keith asked. He started laughing quietly, too.

 

     “Lance, for an A-student, you aren’t that smart,” Pidge dead-panned, then chuckled.

 

     Lance sighed, turning pink. “Shut up, you guys!”

 

     “But… But it’s fucking hilarious!” Pidge replied, through laughter.

 

     “I’m gonna… go give this to Allura.” Keith said and shook Hunk’s resume. He made his way to the back. A thought dawned on him as he replayed the past situation with Lance.  _ “...that Keith didn’t want to be his  _ **_friend_ ** _.” _ Keith had silently been hoping that Pidge had misphrased it and had perhaps meant boyfriend. But it seemed that Lance saw him as nothing but a friend, and Keith was not surprised.

 

     “Hey, Allura?” Keith knocked on the open door. His manager, a dark-skinned lady with silver dyed hair glanced up at him and smiled. “My friend wanted to submit a resume.”

 

     “Ohh! Okay! Shall I come out to see him, then?” She asked, with a polite smile.

 

     “Sure.”

 

     Allura took the resume and put it on her desk, and they walked out together. When Keith entered the front of the store once again, Lance had stood up and put his book away. He seemed to have been having a conversation with Hunk and Pidge.

 

     Hunk waved at Allura and they chatted for a while. Keith and Pidge got back to work, and Lance took his book back out. Keith snuck a glance at it as he walked past:  To Kill a Mockingbird . He found himself looking back over at Lance many times throughout that shift, not purposefully. 

 

     Keith did not particularly  _ want _ to keep looking at Lance. He was just so nice to look at! It was nearly impossible for Keith to keep his gaze from drifting over to that table near the window. 

 

     Lance had, once again, remained in the café until closing time, even if he was the only customer still there. Keith didn't know why he was surprised about that. Hunk had been gone for a few hours at that point and both Allura and Pidge had left around the same time. So… It was just Lance and Keith left.

 

     Keith walked up to Lance and sat down next to him. “Hey…” Lance set down his book and smiled. “Am I… allowed to call you ‘Lance’?”

 

     Lance cocked his head to the side. “Uh… It’s my name, isn’t it?”

 

     “Well, you didn’t want me to know it before. I didn’t know if I had permission,” Keith replied and looked down at his knees.

 

     “Oh, yeah! It’s fine.” Lance chuckled.

 

     “So, if you don’t mind me asking, why… exactly was I not allowed to know your name? Is it actually because you thought I didn’t want to be your friend? ‘Cause that’s just stupid.” Keith frowned. “Not that… you’re stupid or anything. I just don’t get why I wasn’t allowed to know? I don’t think I did anything wrong? Or maybe I did? But I don’t recall having any particularly bad encounters with you… Unless something’s my fault and I was justー”

 

     Lance put a finger to Keith’s lips. His heart started racing. “Hey. Chill. Nothing’s your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

 

     Keith frowned. He still didn’t understand. “Then… Why?”

 

     “I guess…I thought that you thought I was annoying? And I didn’t want to force you to be friends with me or anything.” God, Keith thought that Lance was anything  _ but _ annoying. Well, maybe sometimes. But he had good intentions! Keith glanced at the freckles dotted across Lance’s nose. “I was just being dumb. But if you  _ do _ want to be friends, then you’ll get a lot more dumbness out of me.” He shrugged.

 

     “Oh. Well, I do want to be friends.” Friends was a start. Even if Lance was totally straight, Keith could still admire his adorable stupidity.

 

     A huge grin brightened Lance’s face. “Good! I will… let you finish up here, then.” He gestured to the tables around themé

 

     Keith smiled and looked Lance directly in the eyes. They looked like they had flecks of gold hidden in the blue because of the yellow-ish lighting of the café. “Alright.” They both smiled. Then Keith broke the eye contact, no matter how much he wanted to stay and look into Lance’s eyes forever, and stood up. 

 

     Lance followed, he stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulder. Keith turned back to the counter and started walking over to it to retrieve a cloth so he could wipe down the tables before locking up. 

 

     “Hey, Keith?” Lance asked.

 

     Keith turned around. “Yeah?”

 

     “Was your father a thief? ‘Cause… someone seems to have stolen the stars from the sky and they put them in your eyes,” Lance said with a genuine-looking smile instead of a smirk like usual.

 

     Keith felt like his face was on fire. He was sure that he looked like a tomato. His heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest. “I… Thank you. But… have you  _ seen _ your eyes? They look like… a sparkling ocean. With… little pieces of gold. They’re fucking  _ beautiful _ .” It was difficult for Keith to describe them any other way.

 

     Then it was Lance’s turn to blush. “Ah… Uh… I…” he stuttered, “Thanks?” Keith enjoyed turning Lance into a blushing mess. He deserved it after how many times he’d made Keith into one. Lance walked up to the counter to join Keith as he cleaned it up. Keith was nearly shaking. He had to focus in order to not drop the cloth he was holding. Lance leaned on the counter. “ _ You’re _ fucking beautiful.” Lance smiled and locked eyes with Keith once again.

 

     Keith’s heart rate increased even more than it already had. He felt like he was about to go into cardiac arrest! He took a deep breath (mostly to stall his response, since he had yet to form one). Keith was  _ not _ used to being called beautiful. How would one suddenly respond to that!? It seemed to be such an intimate compliment to him, not something that you would say to someone if you didn't truly mean it. “This… This exchange of compliments will just go in a loop forever. We’ve gotta stop.” Keith smirked and his gaze shifted to Lance’s lips. They seemed so soft and pillowy. And he found that the little nearly-permanent smirk that Lance wore was quite cute. When Keith saw that Lance had noticed where he was looking, Keith quickly looked away as he came out from behind the counter and cleaned off the tables.

 

     Lance chuckled and pulled the remaining strap of his backpack onto his other shoulder. That couldn’t have been good for his back, holding his bag like that. “I guess that’s true. But you’d  _ never _ run out of compliments for  _ me _ !” Lance exclaimed. Keith rolled his eyes and whipped Lance with the cloth. He shrieked a little, which made both of them laugh. “Well, I guess I’d better go.”

 

     “Alright. Bye, Lance.” Keith smiled. He loved the way Lance’s name sounded coming out of his mouth.

 

     “See ya, Keith.” Lance smiled back. Keith also loved the way his own name sounded coming out of Lance’s mouth.

 

     And… He loved Lance.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance’s face brightened up with a huge grin, but Keith noticed a faint blush on his cheeks as well. “Yay! Maybe I can… crush you in some Mario Kart, tonight?”
> 
> Keith frowned. “You’re on, Lance. I’ll beat you though. I’m the fucking Mario Kart _master_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEEEEE SORRY ITS BEEN SO LONG IVE BEEN WRITING BUT IVE NEGLECTED THIS WEBSITE SORRY
> 
> HERES THE NEXT CHAPTER ILY
> 
> edit: i fixed the formatting errors!! sorry about that if you saw it ahh

 

     “Hey, you dick, why didn’t you respond to my texts?!” Pidge yelled across the field as Keith walked to the bus stop. Keith frowned. It’s not that he hadn’t noticed the constant pinging of his phone… He was just distracted all day and was working much harder than usual in his classes. Particularly after lunch, which happened to be when Pidge had sent the texts.

 

     Pidge ran up to Keith. She was remarkably fast for someone so short! “Uhhh… Sorry?” Keith shrugged. He did, in fact, feel bad for not responding. He just didn’t have time to read the incoming messages, between Lance texting him non-stop (and him telling Lance to stop texting him, he was in class for God’s sake!) and his attempt to take decent notes.

 

     “Well, uh, they were just asking if you were working tonight. I figured you were busy in class,” Pidge said, calming down.

 

     Keith was never certain how Pidge would respond to his comments (no matter how un-snarky they happened to be), so he constantly felt the need to overthink what he would say to her. She was one of his only close friends and he could not risk letting her go, especially when he had pissed her off.

 

     “Oh. Yeah, I’m working. Sorry… about not responding,” Keith said.

 

     Pidge’s expression softened and they boarded the bus, which they had nearly missed. “It’s fine.” She stopped talking. It seemed as though she was keeping something from Keith.

 

     “Are you okay?” he asked quietly. Keith didn’t want to be too pushy.

 

     “Oh. Yeah. I’m just tired,” Pidge replied.

     

     Keith furrowed his brows. It was obvious that something was going on, and Keith could not help but feel that it had something to do with him. Could it perhaps be about him ignoring her messages? Or was it about a girl she liked? Or school problems? If Keith were honest, he had no clue.

   

    Keith sighed. “It’s… kinda obvious that you’re lying.” Pidge frowned and Keith inhaled sharply. “But, if, uh, you don’t want to talk about it, it’s cool. I just don’t want you to be so upset.”

 

     “It’s just… I feel like if you get closer to Lance… That you’ll stop talking to me?” Pidge said, hesitating on nearly every word. She looked down at her bag.

 

     Keith did not know how to respond. He stared at the ground. “I would never leave you.” This was the best reply he could come up with.

 

     “You sure?” Pidge said as if she did not believe him.

 

     “I’m sure. Also, we have to get off. Like, now.”

 

     Pidge’s eyes widened and she shoved her phone into her bag, rushing to stand up. “Oh, _shit_ ,” she exclaimed. Keith chuckled softly and Pidge shoved him lightly on the shoulder as they exited the bus.

 

     Keith did his best to include Pidge in the conversations he had with Lance that evening. Their conversations were mostly composed of school issues, and Pidge was basically a genius, so she had no trouble helping the boys out.

 

     Keith also did his best to keep his gaze from lingering on the other boy’s eyes for too long when Lance wasn’t looking at him, yet that attempt had failed many times. And Pidge had called him out on it… Most of those times. Which led to mutual blushing on both his and Lance’s part.

 

     Thankfully, Keith was not left alone with Lance at the end of his shift. There actually happened to be  _three_ people working (himself, Pidge, and Shay), which meant that clean-up at the end would take significantly less time.

 

     Keith made sure that he went to clean the tables nearest to Lance before either of the girls got the chance.

 

     “Hey, Lance.”

 

     Lance glanced up from his computer and smiled. “Hi, Mullet! How are you?”

 

     “Tired. And you?” Keith was constantly tired and could never find a greatly accurate answer to the recurring “how are you” question, so “tired” was his go-to answer.

 

     Lance sighed and set his face in his hands, seeming exasperated. “I’m working on this history thing. I _hate_ it.”

 

     Keith also happened to be taking a history course that semester. The thought of sharing something with Lance brought a slight smile to his face.

 

     “Why are you smiling?”

 

     “I just… also have history right now,” Keith replied.

     

     Lance’s expression brightened. “Oh, yeah? Did you have to do a stupid family history interview thing, too?”

 

     Keith couldn’t help but laugh at the look of sheer disgust forming on Lance’s face as he spoke of his assignment.

 

     “No. But… I can help you with it if you’d like.” He didn’t know where that offer came from. It was not like Keith knew much about Lance’s family history, but he was definitely inclined to learn more. And he was typically good at assignments and following instructions. So, surely, he could be helpful in some way.

 

     “Oh. I, uh,” Lance stuttered. He’d done it again. Keith had screwed everything up because he never thought about his decisions in this sort of situation until it was too late. Nice going. “Yeah! That… would be cool. Tonight?”

 

      _Oh._ Keith had not been expecting a “yes” from that.

 

     He nodded quickly in response.

 

     “Nice. My place or yours?” Lance asked and packed up his laptop. If Keith were honest, he did not particularly want Lance coming over to his house. Not because he did not like him! Definitely not that… Keith felt somewhat uncomfortable bringing friends home for fear of being judged. He thought that he would make a bad impression on Lance. And he didn’t want that.

 

     “Yours..? If that’s okay.”

 

     Lance smiled. “Yeah, man. Sounds good. We can bus. I can show you where to go.”

 

     “Are you guys planning a date or something?!” Pidge called from across the room. Shay snickered and Keith bolted upright to start cleaning the tables again. He’d only finished two while the girls had collectively finished ten.

 

     Keith flushed a deep shade of crimson. “No,” Lance smirked at him.

 

     Pidge rolled her eyes. “Alright, dudes. Just clean the fucking tables. I wanna get out of here.” And so did Keith. To go to Lance’s place.

 

     They had to take a different bus than Keith usually did, which made him nervous. He had no preparation and had not told anyone in his family where he would be. He stared at the bus floor, trying to calm himself down. One of Keith’s legs began to jiggle up and down. This was a _normal_ thing. Going to friends’ houses was a _normal_ thing for people to do. Especially on a Friday night. Just _**calm down**_.

 

     “Hey,” Lance put his hand on Keith’s shoulder and he was suddenly so much more aware of the boy’s presence. It surprised him a bit and he inhaled sharply. “You good?”

 

     “I dunno.”

 

     “What’s up, Keith?” Lance seemed to have some sort of genuine concern for Keith even if Keith wasn’t that close with him… yet.

 

     “I’m just…” He sighed. “Kinda freaking out.” Keith started rushing to get his words out. “I’ve never taken this bus before and that’s kind of scaring me because I’m playing every possible situation of me screwing up by taking a new bus in my head, even though I trust you getting me there. It’s definitely not that. Not that I don’t trust you, just that I’m kinda scared of new stuff..? And I’m also not sure what I’m gonna do tonight because my family doesn’t really know where I’m going, and… and it’s also kinda late.” He looked at his phone to check the time. “Yeah, it’s 7:30, and I don’t want to go home _too_ late because I don’t want to bother anyone, but if I leave you then it’s gonna seem rude and I don’t particularly _want_  to leave you, but I don’t know what to do right now.” Keith took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure why he had suddenly let that all out. It just seemed like Lance would understand.

 

     “Oh…” Lance seemed to have to process that for a moment and he frowned. “Um, wow..? You’ve got a lot on your mind. Okay. Well, maybe… It is pretty late, I guess. Maybe you could just stay over? That would be easiest. And it’s Friday, so your family won’t get mad. I hope.”

 

     Keith nodded. “Yeah… uh, sure. I’ll just… ask.” Lance smiled and Keith began texting his dad:

 

 

**hey. you mind if I sleep over at a friend’s tonight?**

 

**Who, exactly?**

 

**lance. i think you met him a while ago. exam time maybe? idk**

 

**Oh, yeah! I did meet him. He seemed to be a nice kid. Just be safe and let me know if you need anything. :)**

 

 

  
     Thankfully, Keith had avoided any potential awkwardness by his dad responding to his messages straight away. Sometimes his dad was… too trusting. Keith could have been doing _anything_ , but he just… believed him, right off the bat. Perhaps he was glad that Keith was going to hang out with someone besides Pidge. He turned to Lance and smiled. “He says it’s fine.”

 

     Lance’s face brightened up with a huge grin, but Keith noticed a faint blush on his cheeks as well. “Yay! Maybe I can… crush you in some Mario Kart, tonight?”

 

     Keith frowned. “You’re on, Lance. I’ll beat you though. I’m the fucking Mario Kart _master_.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“How the _fuck_  did you beat me!?” Keith exclaimed and threw down his Nintendo Switch controller. Had he played hundreds, even thousands of hours of Mario Kart, just to be beaten by some… amateur? Disgusting.

 

     Lance glanced over at him with a smug grin. “I’m just great.” Keith shoved him on the shoulder.

 

     “What you are is a _dick_.”

 

     Lance gasped and looked extremely offended. “I did absolutely _nothing_  to you! There is no need for this… this  _profanity_!” Keith rolled his eyes.

 

     Keith was glad that they had worked on Lance’s (and his own) homework beforehand. Even if it was, he was so glad to be able to engage in stupid banter with Lance and to… perhaps put some of his not-so-great flirting skills to the test. No one was home other than them because Lance’s family had gone out to get groceries. Who knows why they were out so late? Not even Lance had the answer to that.

 

     “You swear just as much as I do!” Keith said, in defense.

 

     “That is a _lie_ , and you know it,” Lance deadpanned, then smirked at Keith. “You swear at least twenty times in, like, every conversation we have.”

 

     “That’s definitely an exaggeration. No way I swear _twenty_  times in one conversation!” Maybe nineteen, but not twenty.

 

     “But you definitely swear more often than the average person. It’s like you use the word ‘fuck’ as punctuation,” Lance pointed out, making direct eye contact with Keith. There was no way that he could say no to Lance with those gorgeous eyes staring into his own. Keith hated pretty people. This sucked.

 

     “I… sure,” Keith said and sighed.

 

     Lance grinned and pumped a fist in the air. “Two victories in one night!” Keith frowned and Lance made a little “Aw…” sound and patted him on the head. Keith swatted his hand away. His heart raced every time Lance brushed against him or touched him and he did _not_ need any more of that.

 

     “Rematch?” He asked, hopefully. Keith was going to win this time. He had to do a better job at playing and not look stupid in front of this guy for once.

 

     Lance nodded and grinned. “Maybe you can redeem yourself, Mullet.”

 

     Keith groaned. There was no way that he could lose again. Not to Lance.

 

     After just over ten minutes of non-stop cursing and things said such as: “I swear to God if you hit me with a blue shell _one more time…_ ”, “I hate you. You absolute piece of shit.” and “ _Fuck you!_ Stop hitting me with ink!” (all followed by laughter and Keith hitting Lance a few times), Keith pulled ahead and won two out of the three races in the set. He set down his controller gently and smiled innocently at Lance.

 

     “All. Or. Nothing.” Lance said, with a completely serious look on his face. He almost looked angry, but it was a cute kind of angry. Keith sighed, he had been hoping for more of an angry reaction. He didn’t particularly want to win only one time and not be able to win again (because Lance was surprisingly good at Mario Kart; he wasn’t sure if he _could_  win again), but with Lance pouting at him, he gave in.

 

     It was down to the last race. Keith had won the first race in the set and Lance, the second. They were both determined to win.

 

     “How… the hell are you beating me…. AGAIN!?” Keith exclaimed, his voice full of pure rage.

 

     Lance laughed. “I told you! I’m just great!” As he pulled through the last finish line, in first place, Lance turned to Keith, who was slouched and looking furious. “Dude, you look so pissed off.” Keith finished off the race in second place, right behind Lance.

 

     Keith turned to him and looked as if he were about to murder Lance. “I. Am.” He was upset, but it was hard to stay mad at Lance.

 

     Lance’s eyes widened and he smirked. “Uhh… I’m going to go get some drinks because I don’t want to die tonight? So… Do you want anything? We have Sprite… And a lot of juice. Like, more than 10 kinds of it.”

 

     “I’m still angry at you. But Sprite would be good. Thank you.” Keith could not help but wonder if there was a story behind his family having so much juice. He would bet that it was an interesting one.

 

     “I can _tell_  you’re still angry,” Lance stepped toward the door of his bedroom. “Which is why I’m leaving you to seethe in rage for a bit.” He smiled innocently and walked out the door.

 

     Keith sat on Lance’s bedroom floor and looked around. The tall stacks of books reminded him of his own collections back at home. “The Fault In Our Stars”, “The Giver”, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”, “Lord of the Flies”, a stack of classics, a few various thrillers that he recognized... Keith had not realized that Lance was such a bookworm. And next to those stacks of books was his bed, which was covered in notebooks and binders, presumably for schoolwork.

 

     Keith thought back to the day that he had met Lance, and how he had automatically assumed that the guy was a jerk who never did his homework. What an accurate assumption that had been. At first glance though, he couldn’t blame himself for thinking so.

 

     As he fiddled with a loose string on the fluffy carpet that he was sitting on, Lance swung open the door and stepped through, startling Keith out of his thoughts handing him a can of Sprite.

 

     “Thanks,” Keith said and began to open the can.

 

     “No problem, Keithy,” Lance replied with a little smile. Keith drank his Sprite in silence, legs crossed on Lance’s floor. “So… How’s life been treating ya?”

 

     “Uh…”

 

     “Just in general. Life,” Lance said with a smile and a shrug as if his attempt at clarification made it so obvious to Keith as to how he should answer.

 

     “I’m… busy. School. Work. Stuff.”

 

     “Okay… Keith, do me a favour and don’t overwork yourself again like you did at exams.” Lance’s smile had disappeared and he furrowed his eyebrows.

 

     “Dude, it’s fine. I’m not gonna do that again.”

 

     “But you’ve gotten like that before.”

 

     Keith frowned. How the hell could Lance _know_ that? “It’s fine.”

 

     “But it’s not!” Lance exclaimed and looked like a sad puppy. “You’re totally tired all the time when I see you working and… and it makes me feel like I have to do something. ‘Cause it’s not just from not sleeping enough. It’s, like, you’re just physically _and_  mentally exhausted… and I don’t know why,” Lance looked down at the carpet.

 

     Now, Lance may have been right. Keith overworked himself and frequently broke down due to extreme pressure, even to the point that he needed to take a day off to recover. He was usually able to get a decent amount of sleep, but with everything going on in his mind and him constantly just _thinking_ , it was too much to counter with sleep. And even if Lance was right, Keith was not going to say anything. There was no way that he could ever admit it.

 

     Keith moved closer to Lance so that their knees were touching. “Lance… Don’t worry about me. I’ve been dealing with this absolute and utter shit that we call life and that’s all.”

 

     Lance frowned and looked Keith straight in the eyes with a hint of doubt. “If you need anything… let me know.”

 

     Keith very much appreciated Lance at that moment. He really did need friends who would do this sort of thing: not press him too hard but were available when he was ready to talk. This was _partially_  the reason why he was blushing. Perhaps the other reason was just that Lance looked quite pretty. And he was so close to Keith. Not uncomfortably close, but just close enough for Keith’s heart to flutter.

 

     “Yeah, um, thanks,” he smiled sheepishly and stared back at Lance. They stayed like that for a few seconds, just staring.

 

     “Well! Got anything else going on right now?” Lance quickly changed the subject which Keith was thankful for.

 

     “Other than me being here right now..?”

 

     Lance snickered. “Obviously.”

 

     “I’ve got a band concert… in a week. So that will be cool, I guess.” Keith couldn’t remember if he had told Lance much about his band. He only had rehearsal once per week, though, and did most of his practicing at school.

 

     Lance grinned. “Really? Is it, like… a school thing? Or can… anyone go?”

 

     “Um, anyone can go. We have 10 pieces prepared…” Keith was very excited to perform, but it would make him much more nervous if Lance decided to come.

 

     “Would you mind if… I came?”

 

     “Wha- I, no, um… that would be fine.” He would never say it, but even if it would make him nervous, Keith would be very happy to have Lance there.

 

     Lance smiled and nodded. “So, send me the information, I guess. Hopefully, I’ll be there.” When neither of them said anything else, Lance piped up again. “What’s your favourite of the songs that you’re gonna play?”

 

     Keith grinned. A soft and small grin, but a grin nonetheless. He was glad that Lance wanted to hear about music because he spent so much time listening to band music outside of class. “There’s this one piece called ‘Sea Songs’ by Ralph Vaughan Williams and it’s really cool. I love the bassline, w-which I don’t play, of course… But it’s a good one to play anyway.” He rambled on for a while about the piece, then went onto a tangentially related topic of Vaughan Williams’ life and Lance listened, seeming to want to talk but keeping it in.

 

     “Aw. Well, I guess I’m excited to hear that one if you like it that much,” Lance said in reply after Keith had finished what seemed to be a lecture on Ralph Vaughan Williams.

 

     A faint blush formed on Keith’s cheeks. “I’m glad.”

 

     “Honestly though, I’mー”

 

     Someone banged on the door aggressively. “ _Can you guys shut up so I can sleep!?_ ”, a young voice cried. Lance frowned and went to open the door. A little girl stood outside and looked Lance directly in the eye, pausing for a moment to crane her neck around to look at Keith. She had short brown hair, cropped below her ears, but otherwise looked very similar to Lance. The girl, supposedly Lance’s sister, crossed her arms over her bright green Backyardigans pyjamas and pouted.

 

     “Ahh… Sorry, Vero. Yeah, we’ll shut up. But only if you actually go to sleep and don’t stay up reading!” Lance grinned and ruffled her hair.

 

     Vero grumbled and went into another room, presumably to go to sleep.

 

     Lance shrugged at Keith. “I’m surprised I didn’t hear them come home. That was my little sister, Veronica.”

 

     Keith couldn’t help but wonder why they kept such a young child out so late (it was nearing 10:30 p.m.), but, then again, it was _Lance's_  family, so he really was not in a position to question anything.

 

     “Since my family’s home, I guess we should… go say hi? I don’t want them to think I’ve got some random guy sleeping in my room,” Lance said with an embarrassed grin as he ruffled his hair.

 

     Keith nodded and they went out to find his parents. This was no difficult task, as they were quite loud, even though they were simply conversing at the dinner table.

 

     Lance peeked around the corner of the doorway to the dining room. “Hey, you’re back!” He grinned and said this as if he wasn’t already aware of it. As Lance walked into the room, Keith followed quietly behind.

 

     There was an older man, Lance’s father, Keith assumed, drinking what looked like coffee, sitting next to a woman who was probably Lance’s mother. She was leafing through envelopes stacked on the table.

 

     “Hello.” Lance’s mother looked up and her gaze shifted to Keith. She frowned, probably because there was a boy whom she didn’t know standing in her living room. “And who might this be..?” Lance’s father looked up as well, seeming to be only just realizing that there were more people in the room.

 

     Keith was about to introduce himself, but Lance did it for him. “This is my friend, Keith. He’s, uh,” A faint blush began to blossom and creep up Lance’s neck as he spoke. “That guy from the café… that I… talk about… sometimes.”

 

     Lance’s mother’s chocolate-coloured eyes brightened and a familiar grin formed on her face. “Keith! I’ve heard much about you… It’s nice that Lance finally brought you over.” She stood up and gave Keith a hug, which he reluctantly returned.

 

     Brief introductions were given, giving Keith the opportunity to be extremely awkward around Lance’s parents, whom he was instructed to call “Ma and Pa”, instead of “Mr. and Mrs. McClain”, for some reason. He wasn’t even their child, so that was strange and Keith didn’t understand it. He decided not to comment.

 

     Of course, Lance was grinning the whole time, and Keith observed that he seemed to have inherited that from his mother, who was glowing with happiness throughout their whole introductory conversation. This conversation eventually led to Lance rambling on about how Keith played the clarinet and how cool that was, and his mother, or Ma, as she had requested, cooed over that.

 

     Ma also pointed out that Keith had not brought anything with him. Up until that point, Keith had forgotten that he was meant to sleep over at Lance’s place. Was he going to sleep in the same room..? He had no clue. Lance seemed embarrassed to also have forgotten about the fact that Keith had no pyjamas or anything with him other than his backpack, containing his wallet and apron from the café (and other various personal items). They were saved from this, however, when Ma suggested that Lance lend Keith some of his own pyjamas. Keith quickly refused as politely as possible, but they compromised on Lance giving Keith a t-shirt or something of the like, and he’d just sleep in boxers (that he happened to find in his bag from when he spent the night playing video games with Pidge the Saturday evening before). Making it much less awkward on Keith’s part.

 

     They said their goodbyes and the boys made their way to Lance’s room.

 

     “I’m gonna change in the washroom, I guess. So if you want, I’ll just give you something to wear and let you change in my room,” Lance said with a smirk as they walked through the hallway and into his room.

 

     “Uh. Yeah, sure?” Keith replied and took the t-shirt that Lance was offering him, which would most definitely be too big on him as Lance was much taller than he was.

 

     They headed off their own ways and Keith switched shirts, into Lance’s which was plain white and smelled almost of saltwater, then into his boxers. He found a hair elastic in the front pocket of his bag and pulled his hair back haphazardly so that a few strands were still sticking out in the front.

     Keith sat down, cross-legged on the carpet, and pulled out his phone from the pocket of his jeans (which were now stuffed in his backpack) to begin a game of Solitaire.

 

     A few moments later, Lance opened the door and sat down next to him. “You playing something..?”

 

     Keith shut off his phone and set it down on his thigh, “Solitaire.” He could see Lance looking, perhaps marvelling at his hair being pulled back. Keith felt like he was going to melt into the floor at any second.

 

     “Solitaire..?”

 

     “Yep.”

 

     “Wow.”

 

     “Yeah, I know, it’s pretty boring.”

 

     Lance smirked. “It kind of is, not gonna lie. And nerdy.”

 

     “Well.” Keith shrugged as if that filled in the rest of the sentence that he hadn’t yet formed in his mind. Boring and nerdy. That pretty much represented him. Sprinkle a bit of overthinking and anxiety in there and you’ve got a perfect recipe for a Keith Casserole!

 

     “Anyway… Since my bed is, uh,” Lance gaze shifted to his bed, “completely covered in crap from school, I guess we could get sleeping bags or something.”

 

     “You have some?”

 

     “Of _course_ ,” Lance replied, in a tone that implied that everyone should have sleeping bags lying around. He went to find them and later set them up.

 

     They turned out all of the lights except for a small lamp near them and snuck into their respective sleeping bags. Keith was quite glad that they wouldn’t be sharing a bed or anything like that. He did not think that his heart was ready for that much toying with in one day.

 

     More banter proceeded until Lance was in the middle of a sentence and fell asleep halfway through.

 

     Keith looked over at him. “Lance..?” He whispered.

 

     No response. His eyes seemed to be shut tight. How someone could fall asleep so quickly, Keith did not know.

 

     Keith turned from his side onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He kept peeking over to Lance, who looked so peaceful sleeping there and thinking over all of their interactions together.

 

     There was no way Keith was getting any sleep that night.

 

**Author's Note:**

> if ya want to contact me, please do! i'd love to get to know you! ;)
> 
> here:
> 
> ig: @pureinnocentchild + @sockaliens
> 
> tumblr: innocentlilnerd
> 
> e-mail: chloedthegeek@gmail.com
> 
> yt channel: galaxypeaches
> 
> sc: aliensock


End file.
